NASA's Strategic Direction and the Need for a National Consensus

NASA is widely admired for astonishing accomplishments since its formation in 1958. Looking ahead over a comparable period of time, what can the nation and the world expect of NASA? What will be the agency's goals and objectives, and what will be the strategy for achieving them? More fundamentally, how will the goals, objectives, and strategy be established and by whom? How will they be modified to reflect changes in science, technology, national priorities, and available resources? After a "comprehensive independent assessment of NASA's strategic direction and agency management," the NRC Committee determined that, only with a national consensus on the agency's future strategic direction can NASA continue to deliver the wonder, the knowledge, the national security and economic benefits, and the technology that have been typified by its earlier history. This report summarizes the findings and recommendations of the Committee.